Apparatus and methods of distributing content and receiving selected content based on user personalization information

Abstract

Apparatus and methods include the distribution of a plurality of content, at least one of which is tagged with descriptive metadata. Further, the apparatus and methods include selecting content from the plurality of content based on a match between a personalized content preference descriptor stored on the device and the tagged content. Thus, the selected content represents content likely to be applicable or relevant, and/or of interest, to the user associated with the personalized content preference descriptor.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of receiving content, comprising:
 obtaining, on a wireless device, at least one global personalized content preference descriptor and at least one content-specific personalized content preference descriptor, wherein:
 the at least one global personalized content preference description and the at least one content-specific personalized content preference descriptor are generated based on at least one of psychographic information and personality traits of other wireless device users, wherein a global personalized content preference descriptor indicates a preference of a wireless device user applicable across all content; and 
 the other wireless device users are selected from the group consisting of friends identified by the wireless device user, family identified by the wireless device user, and co-workers identified by the wireless device user; 
 
 obtaining, on the wireless device, a predetermined content descriptor for each of a plurality of content; 
 receiving, on the wireless device, a multicast transmission of the plurality of content; 
 identifying, on the wireless device, for each content in the plurality of content, at least one content-specific personalized content preference descriptor associated with the content; 
 automatically selecting, on the wireless device, at least one content from the multicast transmission of the plurality of content based on a match between at least a portion of a predetermined content descriptor associated with the at least one content from the multicast transmission and both of the at least one global personalized content preference descriptor and at least one content-specific personalized content preference descriptor associated with the at least one content from the multicast transmission; and 
 processing, on the wireless device, the selected content, 
 wherein a content-specific personalized content preference descriptor indicates a preference of the wireless device user applicable to only one particular content based on a type of the one particular content. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein obtaining the at least one global personalized content preference descriptor and at least one content-specific personalized content preference descriptor comprises selecting the at least one global personalized content preference descriptor and the at least one content-specific personalized content preference descriptor from a plurality of predetermined content descriptors defined by a content supplier. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein obtaining the at least one global personalized content preference descriptor and at least one content-specific personalized content preference descriptor comprises selecting the at least one global personalized content preference descriptor and the at least one content-specific personalized content preference descriptor from a plurality of predetermined content descriptors corresponding to a respective one of a plurality of services associated with a content supplier, wherein at least two of the plurality of services are associated with a different plurality of predetermined content descriptors. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein obtaining the at least one global personalized content preference descriptor and at least one content-specific personalized content preference descriptor comprises generating the at least one global personalized content preference descriptor and the at least one content-specific personalized content preference descriptor based on at least one of information associated with a psychographic of predetermined users and information associated with predetermined users within a predetermined geographic area. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , wherein obtaining the at least one global personalized content preference descriptor and at least one content-specific personalized content preference descriptor comprises obtaining the at least one global personalized content preference descriptor and at least one content-specific personalized content preference descriptor by executing at least a predetermined one of an algorithm, a decision-making routine, fuzzy logic, a heuristic method and a neural network. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein obtaining the at least one global personalized content preference descriptor and at least one content-specific personalized content preference descriptor comprises generating the at least one global personalized content preference descriptor and the at least one content-specific personalized content preference descriptor based on at least one of local time, a wireless network carrier associated with the wireless device and a device characteristic. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 6 , wherein generating the at least one global personalized content preference descriptor and at least one content-specific personalized content preference descriptor comprises obtaining the at least one global personalized content preference descriptor and at least one content-specific personalized content preference descriptor by executing at least one of a predetermined algorithm, a predetermined decision-making routine, predetermined fuzzy logic, a predetermined heuristic method and a predetermined neural network. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein processing the selected content comprises storing the selected content at the wireless device. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein selecting at least one content from the multicast transmission of the plurality of content further comprises determining if at least the portion of the predetermined content descriptor satisfies a predetermined matching threshold. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , wherein processing the selected content comprises presenting the selected content at the wireless device. 
     
     
       11. A wireless device comprising:
 a memory; and 
 a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured with processor-executable instructions to perform the method of  claim 1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  8 ,  9  or  10 . 
 
     
     
       12. A non-transitory processor-readable medium configured with processor-executable instructions to cause a processor of a wireless device to perform the method of  claim 1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  8 ,  9  or  10 . 
     
     
       13. A method of receiving content, comprising:
 obtaining, on a wireless device, at least one global personalized content preference descriptor and at least one content-specific personalized content preference descriptor; 
 obtaining, on the wireless device, a predetermined content descriptor for each of a plurality of content; 
 receiving, on the wireless device, a multicast transmission of the plurality of content; 
 identifying, on the wireless device, for each content in the plurality of content, at least one content-specific personalized content preference descriptor associated with the content; 
 automatically selecting, on the wireless device, at least one content from the multicast transmission of the plurality of content based on a match between at least a portion of a predetermined content descriptor associated with the at least one content from the multicast transmission and both of the at least one global personalized content preference descriptor and at least one content-specific personalized content preference descriptor associated with the at least one content from the multicast transmission; and 
 processing, on the wireless device, the selected content, 
 wherein a global personalized content preference descriptor indicates a preference of a wireless device user applicable across all content; and 
 wherein a content-specific personalized content preference descriptor indicates a preference of the wireless device user applicable to only one particular content based on a type of the one particular content.